The Long Night of the Toad

[Friday, June 30, 2000]

Griflet's Report: "Sometimes there is nowhere to run."

GRIFF THE GALLANT - Toad (20th), Witches' Moon, Year of the Gorgon

The moonlight gleams eerily over the ivy-strangled tower of Zecy. All
about you you can hear quiet movements and rustlings, the occasional
short bird call which you identify as an archaic form of House Protector
Battle Language. So there are Wild Elves about. Must not linger - you
dash off into the undergrowth; Kellin, Aborius and Windwood not far
behind.

Into the woods; no more moonlight. Dodging and weaving through thicket
and bush, you make your way back towards the beach where you left Griff
and your boat. You keep changing course to avoid stealthy Wild Elf
scouts and war parties.
You think you've confused your pursuers, but unfortunately you also
confuse yourself a bit. You emerge from the wood atop high rocky cliffs,
the dark waters of the Snarlwash below. You must have misjudged the
path
back to the beach.

When you get back to the beach, you see a dim red glow where none should
be and you are immediately suspicious. So is Kellin. "Griff would never
light a fire," he whispers, then stops. "Oh..no!" He starts to run
toward the beach, but you hiss at him to be still. Instead, you get
up
and move stealthily down.

There, near the embers of the burnt longboat is the body of Griff the
Gallant, impaled by an Elven spear.

Kellin and Arborius run down, followed by Windwood. Kellin sinks to
his
knees in the sand and cradles his friend's head in his hands.

It's quiet - too quiet. You sense danger near.

Kellin looks up at you, his face pale in the moonlight. "He was my
friend. I
won't leave him here for these savages. Where we go, he goes. Help me,
Arborius."

Arborius bends down and lifts Griff's dead body over his shoulder.
"Let's
get out of here." he says.

THE HOWLING HUNTERS - Toad (20th), Witches' Moon, Year of the Gorgon

You know that this will slow you down, that the Wild Elves may already
be
preparing an ambush, but there's not much you can do here. You turn to
lead
the way back to the tower. Before you can leave the beach however, you
hear
a faint rustling in the undergrowth, and your keen eyes spot the
sillhouette
of an elven spear. "Ambush!" you hiss, as the spears volley from the
bushes.

You are too exposed to escape, so you charge into the bushes to give
close
fight; you sense there aren't too many here yet. Immediately, battle is
joined with five tatooed elves with spears, howling and gibbering at
you.
After a quick duel, you stab one with your rapier and darkness covers
his
eyes. But his companion gives you a smashing cut on the head with his
cruelly barbed-spear. You are dazed. You stagger back. Blood is
covering

your

face

There is pain.

Someone says. "He's coming around, I think."
Another voice: "Make sure he's quiet. They're still around."
You open your blood-encrusted eyes, with effort. It is dark. Your head
aches. Your whole body feels weak. Kellin says, "Griflet! We thought we
might have lost you. One of them gave you a nasty head wound before we
could
drive them off. But I'm damned if I'm going to lose two friends on this
cursed expedition!"

"Where...are we?" you manage in a croaking voice.
"Still on Zecy, in the woods not far from the beach. We're hiding under
a
bush. Arborius has hidden our tracks, he's on watch outside. Windwood is
fine too, a few scratches, nothing as serious as your wound. I've done
what
I can to clean it. The wild elves have set up a serious hullaballo.
They've
been howling constantly to each other, though right now they're quiet."
"We'd better get a move on then. Back to the tower," you say.
"Are you sure that's wise?" asks Kellin.

RETURN TO THE TOWER - Toad (20th), Witches' Moon, Year of the Gorgon

You get to your feet, wincing with pain, and listen. The wind is blowing
strongly now, and the trees roar and rustle together with the sound of
the ocean. You know that with stealth and luck you can get back to the
tower. So you gather your companions together and cautiously begin on
your way.

You stop frequently, hiding in the bushes, avoiding patrols of wild
elves. You don't think they'll expect you to return to the tower. so you
continue cautiously. Eventually after several hours of this stopping and
starting, you come to the moss-covered ruins of Zecy. Cloud has covered
the moon, so the four of you, with Arborius still carrying Griff's body,
make a dash across the cobbled ruins to the collapsed cellar entry to
the tower.

This time you are lucky - no watchers see you. For the second time in
this long, long night, you enter Celedril's tomb. Through the long hazy
corridor beyond the false wall and into the chamber surrounded by the
seas of Nehwon you go, until you arrive once more in the vaulted chamber
of the three windows. There Celedril still sits, transfixed to his
throne by your arrow in his throat. But his eyes are closed and he looks
almost peaceful.

A groggy Leonore is here as well. "Griflet, what happened? Where am I?
Where did you all go?"

"Leonore!" you rasp, "It is fortune and damnation that we have returned here.
Twas for Griff that we left you but unfortunately we were too late and now
wounded and waylaid we are once again here to find your good soul. I'm
sorry we had left friend."

"Now let us rest our wounds for we have time, though I fear it is soon that
our ship will abadon us and we will have to find other roads to journey
home. And I also fear of what news and its effect on the elven factions
that ship will bring without us aboard, but fate has decreed these things
and even the powers of Law must bend before the the mighty decrees of Fate else it
is broken."

While you rest, you watch through the tall windows the gradually lightening skies of Zeçy, Tovilyis and Imric's
Hold.